I’m sorry this is so late. I always like getting this out in the 1st of the month, but Macro Monday on the 1st, Walkman 40th on the 2nd, John on the 3rd, the holiday on the 4th... anyway. I even had this post mostly written a week ago. So, um, I copy/pasted old code to start this post and forgot to change the intro paragraph. Whoops.

It's been a little bit since I've shared with you a collection or haul of mine, hasn't it? What I'm about to share isn't really a haul of used tapes. Instead, it's my growing collection of new tapes released by Polyvinyl Records. For some reason, I really dig what they produce. I also really dig that while their cassettes cost about $10-12 on their website, I can get them for half that price from the official Polyvinyl table at the Pitchfork Music Festival and I have done just that each of the last two years.

I hate when two people guess correctly within short order on #MiniMusicMonday and on two different social media networks. Why? Because good timestamps are practically non-existent without paying for the use of third-party software to manage it all. And, this is not something where I'm making money or giving out real prizes so I'm not paying for the software.

The big news item in the Chicago area -- that has nothing to do with violence, politics, or the weather -- is that Union Pacific steam engine 4014, dubbed "Big Boy," is in town right now. Well, not Chicago exactly. West Chicago... far to the west of the Chicago proper, but only one town east of where I live.

I do realize that the reason why 80% of the videos I have uploaded to YouTube have single-digit viewership is because I make videos that are more important to me than they could ever be to anyone else.

I hate when technology is on the verge of death and I play the will-it/won’t-it game trying to see if I can make it last just long enough to get through another month or two until an expected sale or whatnot.

I've heard horror stories in the past about television networks denying their content to service providers. What happens is that a contract expires between, say, HBO (or its parent company) and Dish Network. So HBO is no longer beholden to previous terms and wants more money or whatever and, until Dish Network coughs up the demands or they meet somewhere in the middle, Dish can't broadcast HBO or any of its subnetworks, etc.

I get a lot of people asking why I choose Spotify over other services like Pandora or Apple Music. I'm not going to focus on the negatives of the other services and will, instead, focus on one of the biggest positives of my chosen streaming music service... It gets me!

While I truly appreciate it when companies and stores give us a little more bang for our buck, I’d prefer that toilet paper manufacturers give it to us in the form of extra rolls instead of bigger ones. Toilet paper spindles won’t spin when the roll is too thick. That frustrates me to no end.

Earlier today, I was reading an article on CNN.com in response to Trump's tweets aimed at Democratic Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez , Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib and Ayanna Pressley telling them to go back to where they came from and berating them in other ways simply for being women of color.

In celebration of the 50th anniversary of U.S. astronauts landing on the moon (clearly they're not buying the FOX conspiracy theory...), OREO has launched an anniversary Marshmallow Moon edition of their classic sandwich cookie. And they went all in on these things.

Today, the U.S. Women’s National (Soccer/Football) Team won the 2019 World Cup for the second consecutive time, fourth overall. They came, they saw, they conquered... on the biggest stage possible in the most dominating way possible.

My mind was kinda blown this past Wednesday when all the new comic book day release information dropped and, there amongst the paperback rubble, was news that the new issue of The Walking Dead was the last.

I’m sorry this is so late. I always like getting this out in the 1st of the month, but Macro Monday on the 1st, Walkman 40th on the 2nd, John on the 3rd, the holiday on the 4th... anyway. I even had this post mostly written a week ago.

As it’s both Independence Day here in the U.S. and a throwback Thursday, how about a couple old photos of Nathan and me from pat fireworks parties? I was hoping I had one of all three of us, but I don’t. Hmm...

I've been a bit, well, numb for the last 12 hours for lack of a better way to describe it. I was on Facebook last night, which I rarely do, and saw in my updates that a bunch of my friends had posted to the WVHS In Memory page, dedicated to those from my high school who had passed away. This is never a good sign.

We are officially halfway through the #MiniMusicMonday year! Wow! I'm glad y'all seem to be enjoying this. I know I am. So much more than struggling to find something to take a macro photo of each week. I guess this technically is, too, but at least it's on a theme and I can run with that.

Not only is today the last day before Illinois’ gas tax doubles, but normal vehicle registration will jump by about 50%, electric vehicle registration jumps by what feels like 1000% (I don’t wanna do the math), and it seems like a bunch of other taxes are kicking in as well.

Last night, Katie and I decided to start watching the Harry Potter movies again. We offered to show them to Nathan — at least the first two which aren’t quite so scary as the later installments — but he opted out.